Teaching Flames
by nightshadowdark
Summary: I was just trying to teach her, but I never expected to get in this deep with her. I just hope that Lia's fire is never put out.


I glanced up at the brilliant sun as it glared down its light on the city of Mauville. The city seemed to crackle with electricity, from its game corner to the infamous Mauville Gym. My name is Raymond Kasai, or Ray to most people. I am 22 years old, 6'2", and around 170 pounds. My most noticeable feature is probably my eyes. They are black, but most people say that around my pupils it is almost smoky and gray, giving me the appearance of a wanderer. My hair was a vivid red, almost like fire, a trait in my family that was passed down to every other generation. I usually wear a black jacket with an intricate white tribal design encasing it over a red shirt. My black jeans and red and black, Flint Elite Four tennis shoes made people often say that I dressed like smoke and fire. I mostly travelled around Hoenn with my four Pokemon, Vern, my Lucario, Jake, my Tyranitar, Stacey, my Charizard, and of course, my first and most interesting Pokemon, Blitz, a Flareon. We did occasionally journey to other regions to compete in their leagues, winning both the Kanto/Johto league and the Sinnoh league, but I never kept the title, I just liked battling.

As I watched the sun shine down on the city, Blitz finally decided that it was time to wake up. I was curled up in a hotel room bed, the lump of a Flareon at my feet under the covers. I didn't want to get up, and as I snuggled back into the soft sheets and warm pillow, I felt a small nibbling at my feet. I kicked my feet at the disturbance and Blitz managed to fall off the edge of the bed, earning an audible grunt. I snickered quietly as Blitz hopped back up on the bed and began nudging my stomach. I pushed him off the bed once more, so finally he hopped back up and opened his mouth, a small ball of flame in his mouth.

Seeing this, I snapped up, sitting up stiff as a board. "I am up! I'm up! Damn," I complained stretching my arms above my head.

"C'mon, Ray," Blitz said, "We have to be at your sister's place in two hours and I don't want to deal with another of her speeches!" I had taught Blitz to talk not long after our journey in Kanto. We'd run into a batch of strange characters that attempted to steal Blitz and Stacey, who was a Charmeleon at the time. They had a talking Meowth and so I figured that I could teach at least one of my Pokemon to speak English. It truly was not very hard, all you had to do is be patient and teach the Pokemon how to enunciate each letter, other than the ones in their name.

"I know, I know," I snapped irritably. Mornings were never my favourite time of day. They always involved having to get up and do stuff. I stretched once more and then set my feet on the carpeted floor of the hotel. I was wearing my jeans and t-shirt only, so I slipped on my jacket and shoes, stretching once more then laid down on the bed, my feet dangling over the edge. "Do we have to go now?" I complained, putting a little whine into my voice.

"Yes, now let's go. We don't even walk, Stacey flies us there!" Blitz commented hopping back up on the bed, then on my chest, rather hard.

I groaned, but decided that it was useless to argue with an angry Flareon so I packed up my stuff and headed out my hotel room.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

I stepped outside the city limit of Mauville, leaving the city that always seemed to crackle with electricity behind for now. I never liked taking off from cities, there were too many people that Stacey might hit with her wings and that tended to make people mad. Blitz was at my feet, seated, waiting for me to call out Stacey. I pulled out her Pokeball and threw it in the air. In a flash, my magnificent Charizard, Stacey, appeared and gave a roar. She extended her wings in anticipation and cocked her head at me.

"Hey girl, ready for some flying?" I asked, rubbing her head in between the horns. Ever since she was my starter in Kanto, she'd always loved to be rubbed on the head, a sure sign of my affection. I had gotten Stacey as my starter in Kanto, and she had been my second Pokemon after Blitz. She had been nearly taken by a ten year old trainer, but it was discovered the he was to be in jail for stealing a Totodile in Johto. Anyway, Stacey knelt down and I climbed onto her back, her rough skin making climbing around on her quite easy. Blitz hopped up in front of me and I wrapped one of my arms around him as he snuggled into my chest. Blitz never liked heights before, and he would only fly if I were holding him tightly.

Stacey quickly flapped her wings and we began our ascent. I felt the beats of her wings as her powerful muscles forced the air below us and when we had risen to a good height, Stacey stopped moving her wings and began to ride on the wind current. I relaxed as Stacey flew us towards the towering volcano. The volcano was calm, as it usually was and the sun warmed my face as wind and bird Pokemon flew past it. I tried to take it the scenery, but it all was a blur and Stacey's wings would occasionally move in front of my face, blocking my view.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

After several hours of flying, we finally made it to where the large cliffs were that separated Lavaridge from the rest of the world. The cliffs usually forced people to make the trek up the volcano and then climb back down. I had always wondered why the person who founded the town made it that way; maybe he just wanted the hot springs to himself.

Soon we touched down in Lavaridge. Stacey slowly flapped her wings to make a smooth landing and she knelt down to let Blitz and I off. Blitz quickly hopped off and stood up on shaky legs, he had never liked flying. Turning to Stacey, I said, "Thank you, girl. Since we're so close to the gym, I think I'll let you stay out of your Pokeball." Stacey roared in appreciation and the followed behind me as I walked down the street towards the gym. The town was pretty much the same as I remembered it. The Pokemon Center and Pokémart were still in the same place, red rocks still bordered the city, and the steam from the hot springs gradually rose up and dissipated into the air. I took in a deep breath and enjoyed the earthy smell that came from the town. It was good to be home.

Soon, the three of us arrived at the gym. The large gym doors opened and I stepped inside, noting that nothing had changed. As I looked around for my sister, I heard something that I didn't expect. "Blaziken!" said a voice from apparently nowhere. Suddenly I felt like my chest was being kicked and burned at the same time and I was thrown back into Stacey, who caught me and moved her wings, protectively, in front of me.

"Lia!" said a female voice that was I instantly recognized. "How many times have I told you not to blaze kick whoever walks into the gym?" Each word she said got more and more stressed and I could tell that she was getting frustrated.

Stacey moved her wing away from me and I looked at my chest. My clothes were slightly singed, but I was otherwise fine, save for a little soreness. "Nice Blaziken you got, sis." I said in a snarky manner. I looked at the Blaziken, who I guessed was named Lia, and saw that she was not an ordinary Blaziken. Most of her feathers were darker than the usual Blaziken's, aside from her feathers on her head which hung down like hair; those were plain white instead of their usual beige color. "I see that she's violent aside from being a shiny."

Lia snickered into her hand, but a quick glare from my sister shut her up, but I noticed that she was trying to suppress bursting out laughing. My sister, Flannery, sighed and said, "I don't know why she does it, but every time someone enters the gym, she attacks them. I don't even use her to battle people in the gym because she gets too into it." Lia once again snickered and strutted off somewhere. Stacey followed her cautiously and I released Vern and Jake. After the two were out of their Pokeballs, Jake walked off, probably to flirt with a female Pokemon, and Vern walked to the side of the gym and sat down and meditated.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

After setting my stuff in my room and moving into the kitchen, Flannery and I sat down at the table in the gym; Blitz was at my feet, nibbling happily on a bone. Most people didn't know why gyms were so big, but most gym leaders actually could live in them. They were equipped with at least two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen.

"So," I questioned, "How did you manage to catch Lia?" I placed my hand on Blitz' head and slowly rubbed it back and forth, earning a happy yip from him in his own language.

"I was just relaxing in the hot springs after a tough gym day, when all of a sudden this Blaziken comes falls, yes falls, into the water. She was in pretty rough shape. She had cuts on her body, and it looked like she hit her arm pretty hard when she landed in the water. I have no idea how she came to fall into the springs, but I took her to the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy got her all fixed up, and I asked her if she'd like to stay with me and she just shrugged and tapped a Pokeball I had." Flannery let out a breath and leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other.

"Wow, I haven't heard a story like that since I found Jake lodged inside a hole in a rock when he was a Pupitar." I commented, mimicking my sister's gesture in the chair.

We sat in silence for several moments until Blitz broke the silence. "So, tell me again, why does Lia attack whoever comes into the gym?"

Flannery smiled and snatched Blitz' head from me, thus causing him to move over to her side of the table. "I don't know. She just does it. Maybe she finds it funny, maybe she's just violent."

Suddenly, Lia entered the room and sat down, head held high as she sat down and put one of her feet on the table. "Ken, blaze, blazi," she said, directing her attention to Blitz.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She said that she wants to know how I learned how to speak like you humans." Blitz translated. Lia spoke once more in Pokespeak and Blitz translated once again. "She also says that her reasons for hitting people are her own."

I turned to her and noted that I preferred the how her feathers were darker instead of the usual Blaziken vivid red. "I taught him, it wasn't that hard though."

"Blaziken blaze blaze," she said, putting her foot down and leaning on the table, arms crossed in front of her, eyes full of intrigue.

I glanced at Blitz who said, "She asked if you could teach her how to speak like me."

"It would be nice to understand you," Flannery commented, but suddenly jumped up when a light in the kitchen turned on, signalling that a challenger was waiting for Flannery at the front desk. "Gotta go guys, I'll catch up with you later." With that, Flannery dashed out of the room, and I heard her recalling her Slugma, Camerupt, and Torkoal.

I watched her leave the room then turned to Lia. "So you wanna learn how to speak English?" Lia responded by giving a sharp nod and a small grunt. I sighed and said, "I guess we could, but let's wait until tomorrow, I don't want to do much today." I stretched my arms behind me and my legs in front of me.

Lia gave a small grunt out of frustration and her expression hardened, but then her expression turned downcast and her eyes held a small amount of guilt. "Blaziken," she said slowly.

Blitz was now on his back and he looked up at me. "She said that it was fine and she'd wait till tomorrow, but she won't take anything later."

I smiled and said, "It's a deal." Lia smiled, stood up, and then walked away, but I could've sworn that she had winked at me.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

The next day I was awoken by Blitz. The warmth of the sheets and the sun made me want to stay in bed, but Blitz would have none of that. "Ray, get your lazy ass up. I know you don't like dealing with your sister when you're late, but imagine having to deal with a pissed off Blaziken? That doesn't sound too fun now does it?"

I groaned, but soon realized that he was right. An angry Flannery I could deal with, but an angry Blaziken was another story. I kicked the light blanket off of my body and flipped my feet over the side of the bed and stretched lazily. I yawned widely and stood on my shaky legs, which were still half asleep. I pulled on my usual clothes and headed out of my room and down the hall into the kitchen. Lia was already sitting at the dark wood table, paper and pencils out on the table, ready for use. "Blaze," she announced in a commanding tone, gesturing to the seat next to her.

I smiled a little and replied, "We'll get started as soon as I grab some breakfast." Lia sighed and put her elbow on the table with her head resting in her talon-clad hand. I smiled a little wider and I made myself a small bowl of cereal and put some bread in the toaster, set to make it black as charcoal. After several minutes I had finished my cereal and the toast was ready. I carefully picked it up and enjoyed the burnt aroma, but the toast wasn't for me. "3...2...1," I murmured, and, sure enough, right when I said "one" my sister burst into the kitchen, frantically trying to brush out her hair as the early morning training sessions for the gym trainers was about to begin. I held out the toast, which Flannery took greedily, and then she hurried out the door, not even bothering to say thank you. I turned to Lia, who had an amused expression on her face. "Do I know my sister, or what?" I asked. Lia giggled in response.

Lia's attention suddenly snapped back to learning to speak and she gestured to the chair once more and commanded, "Blaziken."

I held my hands up in defeat and conceded, "Alright, alright, we'll get started already." Lia sat back and crossed her arms. I sat down and moved a piece of paper in front of me, grabbing a pencil as well. I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts quickly. "Okay," I started, "It wasn't hard to teach Blitz, but you need to be patient as it does take a while to fully master it. It took Blitz about three months to get where he is now, but that's just getting fluent in the language, but actually learning how to pronounce the words is rather easy." Lia nodded attentively and moved forward, eager to learn more. "We're going to start off easy though; we'll start with a word that has most of the letters in "Blaziken." I stopped to write a word on the paper. I showed Lia the paper and asked, "Do you know what this word is?" Lia nodded, despite not being able to speak English, most Pokemon could read it as it was everywhere. The word I had written was the word "blue." "Okay, say the first part of the word."

"Bl," Lia responded smugly.

I smiled deviously and said, "Now try the second part of the word, it's pronounced, "oo."

Lia's smugness suddenly disappeared as she tried to make her beak form the foreign word. After several minutes of trying to form the sound, Lia threw her hands up and looked at me impatiently. I placed a calming hand on her shoulder and repeated the sound for her, accentuating the way my mouth moved. After several more minutes of trying, Lia managed to force out, "Blue." The word was quick and concise, but Lia smiled as the new word passed her lips.

I laughed and said, "Try it again."

"Bla-blue!" Lia exclaimed happily, grinning to herself.

"Okay, let's get a little harder," I said. I moved on to other words such as "baby," "blunder," and "bring." The first day was always just to start with words that started with the letter that the Pokemon's name started with.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

Almost two months had passed since I'd returned home. I usually stayed for about three months and I was happy with the progress that Lia was making. She could now easily hold a conversation, although she did have to think about some words, and she couldn't pronounce some of the more complicated words. I'd begun to realize that I enjoyed being with Lia a lot more than I would think I would. We started to spend most of our free time with each other. We either were relaxing the in hot springs together, or watching the mountain climber wannabes stumble and fall down the mountain as they tried to make it to town, or sometimes we'd enjoy watching Flannery kick the crap out of most of the challengers who didn't specialize in water or rock-type Pokemon. Lia was quite a good looking Pokemon. Her dark red feathers seemed to glow like embers in coals. Her white feathers on her head contrasted the dark feathers nicely and gave her a brilliant glow that only added to her radiance. Her muscles were bigger than mine, and she could, and possibly would one day, kick my ass any day of the week. I didn't mind though. After a while, I began to think about something. Maybe, maybe what I was feeling was not just infatuation with a Pokemon, but maybe it was love. It was completely legal to be in a relationship with a Pokemon; two men with Gardevoirs had seen to that, oddly enough they were from two totally different regions, but altered almost all of them, well all except Unova.

As I continued to think about Lia, I was interrupted by said Pokemon. "He-llo, Ray," she said a little choppily. I turned from my position in the bleachers. I had been watching a match where Flannery destroyed a small camper, who left the arena very disappointed that she hadn't been able to achieve her badge. Flannery shouted a word of encouragement, but the trainer was long gone and the next one was walking up to the plate.

Turning my attention away from the ensuing match, I looked at Lia. She stood tall and proud, with an expression that told anyone looked at her not to look at her. I couldn't help but look at her small breasts; most bi-pedal Pokemon had them, but were small until they bore young. She often snapped at me for staring at her, but today, for some reason, she didn't, she just stood there, waiting for my answer; had I been in my right mind (that is, not looking at her) I would've noticed the blush that formed on her cheeks as she looked at me. "H-Hello, Lia," I stammered, trying to snap myself out of the self-imposed euphoria I was in. I shifted positions as my member was slowly beginning to become hard. I bit back a curse, but looked up confidently at Lia, meeting her unflinching gaze.

"I am sitting here," she said firmly. It wasn't a question, but rather a statement and she executed it without hesitation. It was one of the things I liked about her; she didn't take anybody's crap, and was quite confident. She was also one of the three people who could get me up from bed, the other two being Blitz and Flannery. "She is do-ing well, is she?" Lia asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"She certainly is," I commented as her Camerupt let loose a powerful earthquake attack, which shook the whole arena so that Lia was suddenly knocked loose out of her seat on the bleachers and fell on top of me, landing with her head about two inches from my growing member. She quickly scrambled up, a pink blush on her face. A blush had formed on my face as well and the two of us were silent for a while. After watching Flannery scrape out a narrow victory against the challenger, I finally spoke. "Do you want to do anything today, Lia?"

"We could try to bam-bamboo-bam-ugh," Lia growled, putting her head in her hands as she tried to enunciate the word.

I chuckled a little and Lia looked at me harshly, but I kept laughing. "How about we just mess with Blitz instead of bamboozle him," I suggested with a bit of sarcasm in my voice.

Lia smiled slightly and said, "Tha-Thank you, Ray. When will we get started?"

"How about never?" Came an indignant voice from across the bleachers. Lia and I turned to see Blitz walking towards as, an angry expression on his scrunched up face. "I still haven't forgiven you for that last one!" Lia and I laughed as we remembered when we taped Blitz' favourite toy to the ceiling of his room, and then watched him try to jump on many assorted objects to retrieve it. We watched as Flannery removed her Pokeballs from the in gym healer and release her Pokemon. She walked to the front of the gym and put out a sign that said "closed."

She took a large sigh of relief and soon joined us in the bleachers and sat down. "I'm done with challengers for the day, that last one was the tenth one today! I've only given out one badge today too; I really wish people would think about how tough we were before just going after gym leaders willy-nilly."

We all laughed as my sister mimicked Lia and put her head in her hands. The round of laughter stopped all of a sudden, when we heard the door slide open and then close. Flannery turned around as she was facing up and we all looked at who had entered the gym. The man was dressed in a dark blue shirt with a white vest over it and wore white jeans. A red cap adorned his head atop his mop of tangled purple and blue hair. His expression was full of hate and disdain. My sister stood up and said, "I know who you are. I defeated you a few days ago! If you want a rematch against me, I'll surely go for it, but tomorrow, okay? I've had a rough day, but if you want do go now, I guess we-"

Flannery was cut off midsentence by the man's commanding voice. "I'll have none of your excuses Flannery!" he shouted, clearly infuriated.

Flannery took a step back and asked, "What the heck are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. You cheated in our match!" Lia, Blitz, Flannery and I gasped. I had never known my sister to cheat; in fact, most of the time she was a stickler for the rules.

Flannery put her hands on her hips and stared at the man. "I would never do such a thing. What would make you think I did?"

Without hesitation, the man replied, "I am a water type specialist, there is no way a fire type specialist could've beaten me so easily!"

"Flannery," I asked curious as to what was going on, "What is he talking about? What happened in the match?"

Without turning her back to the man, she responded, "I kicked his ass using only Slugma, and-"

"And you cheated against my Magikarp and Feebas!" the man screamed, interrupting Flannery once more.

A grin broke my face and I looked at Lia and Blitz who had burst out laughing. "Really, sir?" I asked, trying to hold back my amusement. "Yes, those two are water types, but they are fairly weak until you train them to evolve in Gyarados and Milotic, respectively."

The man growled and looked at Flannery and I with a look that shot daggers at us. Both of us stared back, amused at the ticked off man before us. Suddenly, the man's face broke into a manic smile. "Well now," he started maliciously. He licked his cracked lips and shouted, "You're gym goes down and you and your brother with it!" The man reached into his vest and threw three ultra balls up into the air. The first two opened and revealed a Gyarados and Milotic, both with evil expressions on their faces, which was quite unusual for Milotic; Gyarados, not so strange. The third Ultra ball revealed a Jellicent, muttering its name under its breath. Before either Flannery or I could issue a command, the man shouted out his orders. "Gyarados, Waterfall, Milotic, use Hydro Pump, Jellicent use Water Spout!" The three Pokemon quickly enacted their orders. The Gyarados became a raging stream of water as he ploughed into Flannery's helpless Slugma, knocking it unconscious. Milotic screamed its name and then launched the torrent of water at Camerupt, soaking it to the bone, also taking it out for the count, steam rose from its humps. Finally the Jellicent rose to the ceiling and spun around, an eerie light emanating from it. Suddenly, water spewed from the top of its head and began to soak the entire battlefield, with us along with it.

We all screamed as water raged down on us worse than any rainstorm that I'd certainly ever been it. Torkoal was the one to receive the full brute force of the attack, managing to bring the powerful fire type to its knees in defeat. The water soon came down on us, but right as it was about to hit Lia, time seemed to slow. A powerful water attack like that could seriously hurt a Blaziken due to their heredity low defences. Right as it was about to hit Lia, a rope seemed to tug me and force me to do the most cliché, movie-like act ever, I jumped in front of her and took the majority of the impact, which knocked me into her, my head right in between her breasts. While that normally would have caused me a lot of embarrassment, but I was so waterlogged that I couldn't even process where I'd landed. I was almost drowning in water, but suddenly a powerful blow knocked the stuff out of me. Lia had moved from behind me and then punched me straight in the stomach, although painful, it did work in getting out all of the water. "Thanks," I muttered, trying to stand up through my feeling of being flustered.

"Do not me-menti-mention it," Lia stammered, also clearly flustered. Flannery had just jumped down after pushing her hair out of her face. Lia and I also jumped down, but Blitz was out cold.

The man and his three Pokemon were standing in front of us; a smug expression was on the man's face. "How do you expect to beat me now with your only remaining Pokemon is a pathetic bitch of a Blaziken?"

An anger sparked in me when he said that. I didn't know where it came from, but I quickly snapped and shouted, "Don't you dare talk to about her like that, you worthless shell of a man!" I was breathing hard, but I did notice that Lia was staring at me curiously and with wide eyes.

The man made an innocent face and taunted, "Aww, does the wittle boy have a crush on a bird?"

I wanted nothing more than to smash the man's face in right then and there, but I restrained and merely smiled and said, "Jake, Crunch, Vern, Dragon Pulse, Stacey, Solarbeam." I watched as my Pokemon, who had been quietly moving into position behind the arrogant man before me, performed each and every command that I had stated. Stacey began to draw in a bright light from who-knows-where and then launched it at Milotic, who managed to turn around at the exact wrong moment and got a face full of a bright, green-white beam. The blow had taken her out and Vern launched a pulsing, blue orb, but this one was a darker blue than his normal Aura Spheres and it struck Gyarados on the side and sent it toppling from the air and also took it out. Jake's jaw became surrounded in a black substance and he opened his mouth wide. The man looked panicked and tried to recall Jellicent back into its ball, but I noticed this and quickly changed my command. "Switch to Pursuit, now!" Jake's jaw lost its dark aura and then he seemed to move with a blinding speed that was not normal to Tyranitar as he intercepted the red beam of the Ultra Ball, and, as Jellicent was being drawn in, Jake let loose a dark punch that made impact with the red plasma that Jellicent had become.

"Jellicent?" the man asked to the Ultra Ball, voice wavering nervously. He threw the ball and revealed the ghost-water type, unconscious, and clearly in no shape to fight. The man quickly withdrew all of his Pokemon and he began to dash for the door, but Jake was in his way, growling menacingly and the man quickly backed down. He quickly glanced back and forth, eyes frantically searching for a nonexistent escape route. Finally, Flannery, Lia, Jake, Vern, Stacey, and I surrounded him, although it was clear that Lia was in the worst shape of all of us. Whilst my Pokemon were out of the room when the deadly Water Spout was performed, all of Flannery's were in it, including Lia, and despite the fact that I took most of the blow, part of the move still managed to hit Lia, weakening her noticeably.

Suddenly, the man lunged out and grabbed Lia, moving in a way that he grabbed her right wrist, and then he twisted it around her back, grabbing her left wrist in the process, which he also brought to her back. He kicked Lia in the back, which brought her to her knees with a loud yelp. After recovering from her clear shock, Lia glared at the man and said, "Relea-ease me, swine."

The man laughed and without a word brandished a knife. Lia's eyes widened as the knife was moved to directly below her beak, a much unknown weak point that most Blaziken had. Suddenly, the eyes of the man changed to deadly seriousness. "If anyone so much as says a word against me, she dies."

Seeing Lia so helpless was so unusual to me. She was normally the one to be in control, the one to make the decisions, the one to never back down, even in the face of danger. Out of nowhere, I felt my anger grow. It began to consume me. It began to slowly encroach and then seemed to destroy my rational side. I let out an animalistic yell and lunged forward at the man who was about to kill the one I loved. I didn't understand why I was so angry, but it appeared that I was scaring the man. He let out a yell as I rained blows down upon him. The sudden onslaught of punches and kicks caused him to drop the knife and move away from Lia, which allowed me more freedom to continue to kick his ass.

When I was attacking him, my brain seemed to become inert. My heart beat like a madman's, and was the source of my rage, pumping red fury through my veins and moving it to every inch off my body. My blows smashed the man's nose, struck the air out of him, caused bones to crack under my fury, and caused teeth to come loose from their places in the man's mouth. Suddenly, I was pulled back from my prey by one rocky, hard arm, and one furry paw. I looked back to see Vern and Jake holding onto both of my arms. Vern put his hand on my head and looked into my eyes deeply. I soon became very drowsy and the last thing I remember before blacking out was Lia beginning to run over to me.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

My eyes shot open from the nightmare that seemed so real. I looked around and noticed that I was in my room. Same large bed, red carpet, walls painted like coals and fire, same window that peered out onto the volcano, and the same Blaziken statue. Wait, Blaziken statue? I sat up straight in a flash and felt a sharp pain in my hand which I'd used to push myself up. I looked down and it and noticed that my knuckles were bandaged and a little bloody. The covers had dropped off of me and I noticed that I was shirtless and wearing only my jeans. I then turned my attention back to Lia who I caught staring at my lean body before turning her head towards the window, a large blush turning her dark red feathers, pink.

"Lia," I said, causing her head to turn back to me, same fierce expression that she usually wore. "Was there a man that tried to kill you here?"

Lia nodded and explained, "Yes, he wanted reve-ve-venge against your sister, as you know. He appar-apparently stole the three Pokemon he used from ot-other trainers. Offi-Offic, ugh, Jenny said that she wasn't gonna press charges."

I nodded and then looked at Lia as she stared out the window, occasionally glancing back at me. Her feathers looked smooth and soft and she showed no signs of being affected by the traumatic event she'd just been through. She stood straight and tall in front of the window, evening sun casting her shadow over the room, and the sun's rays danced along her white feathers, making then shine with beauty. Lia suddenly turned to me and hit me to snap me out of my stupor. "Ow!" I shouted, but Lia merely giggled. I knew that she meant no harm; it was just her getting my attention.

"Ray, I wanna ask you some-thing."

"Go ahead," I replied, leaning back down and putting my arms behind my head on my pillow.

"Why did you save me, like you did?" Lia asked pulling a chair from the nearby table.

I stared at the ceiling for a few moments before answering, but a nudge from Lia finally prompted me to answer. "I don't know, Lia, I guess when I saw you in trouble, something just snapped in me and I attacked him."

"I know that, but why d-did you snap?" Lia questioned, leaning in a little close to me.

I pushed her back and sat up on the bed, reluctantly. I swung my legs over the side, put my elbows on my knees, and clasped my hands. I opened my mouth to speak and separated my hands, causing Lia to come in a little closer, but I didn't say anything. I knew, deep down, why I had done what I did. It was because I was in love with Lia and couldn't stand to see someone I love get hurt. I took a deep breath and slowly confessed, "It's because I love you, Lia." I looked at her face, a strong expression on my own. Lia had a huge blush on her face, her eyes were wide, and he mouth hung open. I smiled a half smile and looked at her carefully, somewhat expecting her to punch me in the face.

"Y-Y-You lo-ove me?" she asked, tripping over her words in a way that I could tell was not because of her speech limitations.

I slowly moved my head up and down. "I guess I do. I mean, we just met, but I can't help but be attracted to you. You're strong, you won't back down to anyone, you're loyal, and a good friend, if a little violent, but everyone has their quirks. I also know that you have a softer side, but you don't like to show it." I smirked and chuckled a little as Lia looked down at her lap. "I think you're beautiful too," I continued. "Your feathers shine in the sun, but the red ones seem to be the color of your heart, a deep, lovely red. I understand if you don't, you know, love me back, but that's the reason that I acted so crazily about you." I sighed and stared down at my lap, twiddling my thumbs nervously, still expecting to be hit by Lia.

"Ray," said Lia's voice softly. I looked up and found myself on the receiving end of a slightly awkward kiss. Lia was trying to move her beak in a way that would work with my lips, but before I could help her, she pulled away and looked away, eyes closed, blush still noticeable on her face. "I love you too, Ray," she said quickly, smoothly, but with conviction.

I smiled at Lia's obvious embarrassment and reached over to her, grabbed the bottom part of her beak, and looked deep into her eyes. They shone with anticipation and nerves. I moved her face to mine and kissed the side of her face. When I looked back into her eyes, the nervousness was gone, left only by anticipation, but for what, I didn't know. We both stood. We were smiling as embraced each other for the first time, which was a little strange, considering we had kissed before we hugged. I pressed my body against her and felt how warm her body really was. It was like a comforting fireplace was right next to me, filling me with happiness, but there was still an edge of danger, just like a real flame. I set my head on Lia's shoulder and pulled me in even closer, although I could tell that it was a little awkward for her to show affection like this.

We smiled together and looked into each others' eyes before finally succumbing to our desires and launching ourselves into a deep kiss. I moved my lips around her beak as she attempted to do the same with my lips. I didn't care that it felt strange, to me, as long as I was kissing her, I was fine with any kiss. Our passion was to rival that of any flame. It burned like a fire, wild and free, but had meaning like a flame warming the frozen. Finally, the two of us broke and Lia whispered lustfully, "Please, Ray, I want you to ta-take me."

I was a little shocked at the sudden confession from her, but I responded by moving my hands lower on her body and planted a small kiss on the tip of her beak. "Anything for you, my love."

Lia suddenly threw herself on the bed, also dragging me down with her. I was soon on top of her and in a deep kiss, our tongues intertwined. I slowly broke the kiss merely to shut and lock my door, close the blinds and then remove the rest of my clothes. I stood, naked, in front of Lia, proudly displaying my growing manhood. Lia gave a lust filled murmur from her throat and I went back over to her, placing myself on top of her and bringing her into a kiss. I took my left hand down and slowly rubbed the outside of her slit, which was gradually becoming wetter and wetter as I rubbed. Lia moaned into my mouth as I pleasured her. Inside, she was warm, as I expected, and I occasionally slipped inside her. Finally, I moved my index finger inside of her and began to slowly move it in and out, eliciting more moans of what I hoped to be pleasure from my soon to be mate. Lia broke the kiss and whispered, "Do what you wa-want t-to me, Ray, I am yours. But please, don't te-tea-tease me too long, I want you so bad!" I smiled and continued to rub her entrance as if it were the most delicate thing in the world. My other hand found its way to one of Lia's small breasts and I moved the feathers out of the way, revealing a perky nibble, standing straight at attention. I grasped the breast and began to gently fondle it, causing Lia to begin to pant and breathe fairly heavily. I kissed the side of her face once more, and then moved my lips to her neck, nuzzling it lovingly. I was trying to give her as much pleasure as possible. Lia responded by gripping me tightly, and she occasionally dug her talons into my skin lightly. I didn't mind as it didn't hurt too badly, and I was solely focusing on Lia.

Suddenly, I stopped all that I was doing, earning a whine from Lia, who looked at me curiously, eyes begging me to continue. I smiled and said, "I didn't want to tire you out for the next part." I leaned down and kissed the side of Lia's face, and then I moved myself from on top of her and poised my now erect member before her beautiful flower.

I put myself at Lia's entrance and looked at her carefully. Lia nodded and said, "Take me, Ray, do what you will to me."

I had no intention of hurting her, and I could clearly see a small amount of worry in Lia's eyes, so I slowly entered her, causing a moan to escape both of our lips. Lia was hotter than before, most likely because of how much I had pleasured her. I carefully moved my way into her, but I soon hit a barrier. I knew exactly what Lia would say should I ask her permission, so I reared back and then penetrated through the obstruction. Lia drew in a sharp intake of breath and grabbed onto one of my hands. I was now all of the way inside of her and I began to move my hips back and forth, making small movements and getting Lia used to the unusual feeling. Lia moaned and looked at me with a deep hunger in her eyes, so I began to make my thrusts larger and harder. A smile was now a permanent fixture on Lia's face, so I smiled as well. Lia's insides were gradually getting hotter and hotter. The harder and faster I was, the steamier and more intense the heat inside her became. It soon became slightly uncomfortable, but I felt my release coming, and I sensed that Lia's was coming on as well. I placed my hands on Lia's hips and started to thrust as hard as I possibly could, inviting Lia to move her hips in an attempt to keep up with me. I was now trying my best to avoid my release as I wanted to have it at the same time as Lia. I wasn't left waiting long as Lia's wrists, which usually remained off, flared up and she launched a dazzling display of flames at the ceiling, causing the roof to become black and charred. Her walls suddenly clamped on my member like a vice and were hotter than molten lava. Her hips bucked and thrashed as she suddenly milked my manhood for all it was worth. I shot my load deep into her and could've sworn that I saw steam arise from Lia's nether regions.

After about a minute, Lia and I both managed to relax enough so that I fell on top of Lia. My face landed directly next to hers and she blew hot breath on my face, a small smile of contentment on her face. She wrapped her arms around me and I did the same with her, only rubbing her back at the same time. "I love you, Lia"

"I love you t-too, Ray," she responded shakily, but with confidence.

(=)(=)(=)(=)

One more month had passed since Lia and I had become mates. We'd revealed that about a week after becoming official, earning a warm round of applause and congratulations from Flannery, Blitz, and the rest of the Pokemon, although Lia and Blitz had to translate what the others were saying, I never understood why they did not want to learn English.

Now, however, I was lying awake. I was waiting for Lia, who was hugging one of my arms, to wake up, and I really didn't want to get up even after she did, I was happy sitting in bed all day with her if I could. Lia woke and I looked down at her, kissed the top of her feathered head and said, "Morning, dear, how was your sleep?"

"Mmph," was her response as she snuggled her head into my chest and tried to get back to bed, but a certain Flareon decided to show up at that exact moment.

"Listen lovebirds," Blitz stated, "I know that you two won't don't want to do anything, but we gotta get to Fallabor to meet up with your mother, who doesn't know about Lia, might I-gah!" Blitz was interrupted by a strong hand pushing him off of the bed.

I smirked down at Lia, who was now looking at me innocently. "He's not wrong; we do have to get up."

"Shut up," Lia teased. She then released my arm and got out of our shared bed, leaving me as the only one. Lia smoothed her ruffled feathers, told Blitz to suck it up about being shoved off the bed, and then sent him out of the room, closing the door behind him. Walking over to me, Lia put her hands on her hips and chastised, "You were the one who said that we needed to get up, now get up!" She put her hand on the back of my head and pushed it up, forcing me into the sitting position.

I laughed along with Lia as she pulled me into a kiss. I finally got up out of bed, still naked from Lia and I's romp the prior night. I quickly pulled on my clothes and opened the door, letting Lia out before coming out myself. We walked down the hall and quickly grabbed some breakfast while making small talk with Flannery and Blitz.

Finally, it was time for me to leave for however many months, this time, however, it wouldn't just be Blitz and I. Lia was now joining us. She hadn't decided if she was going to battle as she wasn't used to it, but it didn't matter, I just like being with her. As Lia, Blitz and I stood at the exit of Lavaridge, we heard Flannery shout her goodbye and then go back into the gym to get started on the growing line of trainers. I took Lia's hand in mine and smiled at her. She smiled back and then we heard Blitz ask, "Have I been replaced, Ray?" I looked down and saw a small grin on Blitz' face, so I knew he was mostly kidding.

Lia spoke before I did. "No, you can now be our little pet, and we can feed you and rub you, and if we ever have kids, then they can play with you and pull your fur and-"

"That's enough, Lia," I admonished, trying to suppress a grin, and Lia giggled at Blitz' mortified expression. I knelt down and patted Blitz' head and said, "Nah, you're still my best buddy, but I'm gonna save Lia's life over yours, so sorry."

Blitz did his best imitation of a shrug and replied, "Eh, I'll probably have to save yours more than anyone, so I think I can live with that."

We all laughed and I stood up, gave Lia a quickly kiss, and then began walking, Lia's hand in mine, Blitz at our feet.

**A/N: This one-shot is for Ricepeas as he won the contest in my fic "The Mark." The contest is over now, so I will eventually remove the author's notes revolving around those when I get the chance. I really like this fic, although it ended up a little longer than I expected, but whatever. So, congratulations Ricepeas, here's the fic, and I hoped you enjoyed it.**

**Finally, I may be opening up requests for a fic soon, but it won't be until after I get started back up with The Mark. There will be more details on how I'll do it in the future.**


End file.
